Zywan Lacey caught the football, turned upfield and was gone in a flash.
The Columbus High School senior snagged a screen pass from quarterback Shaun Williams and raced 45 yards to the house, outstripping Greenville defenders to the end zone.
Just that quickly, the Falcons’ offensive struggles appeared forgotten.
Lacey’s touchdown — just Columbus’ second offensive touchdown of the season — set the tone for a Falcons explosion in a 34-12 beatdown of the Hornets (0-5) on Friday.
“We’ve been talking about putting drives together and finishing plays, so the guys did a great job offensively of moving the ball downfield and scoring some offensive touchdowns,” Columbus coach Joshua Pulphus said.
Pulphus’s team is just 2-4 overall but 2-0 where it counts — in the MHSAA Class 5A, Region 1 standings, in which the Falcons are currently at the top.
Columbus scored a safety and a kick return touchdown by Lacey last week in an 8-3 win over crosstown rival New Hope but looked much improved against Greenville.
The Falcons scored four offensive touchdowns, grabbed four interceptions and even scored on a pick-six against the Hornets.
“We’ve been harping on making sure we dominate all three phases of the game,” Pulphus said. “I’m proud of where we are. I’m proud of where we’re going. We’ve still got some more work we need to get done, but I’m proud of everything that we’re doing.”
Dealt a tough blow when starting quarterback Jaquavious Bankhead tore his ACL in August, Columbus has bounced back nicely under sophomore Shaun Williams. It was slow going at first — the Falcons lost three straight games 28-0 and lost 28-6 to Tupelo — but Friday, there were yet more signs of progress.
Several of those came from Williams, who delivered a solid passing performance, going 9 of 17 for 117 yards, the touchdown to Lacey and an interception. Williams also ran for touchdowns of 3 and 10 yards, using his big frame to total 62 yards on nine rushing attempts.
Pulphus said he “could not be more proud” of Williams, who is new to varsity football and never even played quarterback in junior high.
“For him to step up and to get better each week shows what type of character that young man has,” Pulphus said. “I’m proud of Shaun Williams. I think he’s one of the unsung heroes around here.”
Williams spurred the Falcons to 34 unanswered points after an early Greenville touchdown. Hornets quarterback Charmarion Daniels cashed in with a 1-yard touchdown run after Williams failed to recover a bad snap at the Columbus 1-yard line.
It was one of several miscues for the Falcons early on, but Columbus scored twice in the second quarter and three more times in the after halftime.
“We had a bad start in the first half; we came back in the second half and dominated,” senior Hemyar Nagi said.
Nagi was part of that domination, intercepting Daniels in the second half and plunging in for a 1-yard rushing score late in the game.
Columbus junior Antonio O’Neal — “Tone Island,” according to the Falcons coaches in the press box — returned an interception 25 yards for a third-quarter touchdown.
“I knew the play was coming,” O’Neal said. “We’d seen it on film. I just capitalized.”
Greenville scored in the final two minutes on Daniels’ second touchdown run of the night.
Otherwise, it was all Columbus from the second quarter on. Lacey’s catch-and-run score came just 30 seconds into the period.
The senior ran for 44 yards on just two rushing attempts and ended up with three catches for 74 yards and the touchdown.
“Zywan’s a great kid, great person, so he does a great job of giving us a spark,” Pulphus said. “He does a great job for us. He’s our home run player. We’ve got some more kids who are trying to step into that role as well, so we’re excited about what we’ve got.”
That’s a good sign for a Columbus offense in need of jumpstarts like the one Lacey delivered Friday.
The Falcons will relish the win, but not for long — they have a road date with Lafayette (2-4, 1-1 Region 1-5A) next week. The Commodores just whipped Saltillo 56-7.
“It felt good, but our mindset every week is 1-0,” Nagi said. “We’ve got to enjoy the moment tonight but come back ready Monday for Lafayette.”
Columbus 34, Greenville 12
Greenville (0-5) 6 0 0 6 — 12
Columbus (2-4) 0 14 13 7 — 34
First quarter
G — Charmarion Daniels 1 run (kick failed), clock 5:43
Second quarter
C — Zywan Lacey 45 pass from Shaun Williams (kick failed), clock 11:30
C — Williams 3 run (Williams run), clock 5:00
Third quarter
C — Williams 10 run (Courtavien Clark kick), clock 9:20
C — Antonio O’Neal 25 interception return (kick failed), clock 3:01
Fourth quarter
C — Hemyar Nagi 1 run (Clark kick), clock 4:56
G — Daniels 5 run (run failed), clock 1:11
Individual statistics
PASSING: Greenville — Charmarion Daniels 8-21, 136; Columbus — Shaun Williams 9-17, 114.
RUSHING: Greenville — A.J. Rhodes 10-36, Charmarion Daniels 8-34, Jamarion Brooks 5-6; Columbus — Shaun Williams 9-62, Reginald Wilkins 7-48, Zywan Lacey 2-44, Benji Vaughn 7-24, Darius Miller 2-10, Hemyar Nagi 1-1, Khristian Watson 1-(-2).
RECEIVING: Greenville — Tramarcus Brooks 6-100, Michael Hodges 1-39, A.J. Rhodes 1-(-3); Columbus — Zywan Lacey 3-74, Khristian Watson 3-16, Courtavien Clark 2-14, Cortney Petty 1-10.
Team statistics
First downs: Greenville 10, Columbus 13.
Rushes-yards: Greenville 23-76, Columbus 29-187.
Passing yards: Greenville 136, Columbus 117.
Comp.-att.-int.: Greenville 8-21-4, Columbus 9-17-1.
Fumbles-lost: Greenville 4-1, Columbus 5-2.
Penalties-yards: Greenville 10-48, Columbus 11-110.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion